The following communication, received on 28 February 2025, is being circulated at the request of IICA.

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The observer organizations of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Committee) are invited to submit reports on the activities they have carried out to promote the understanding and implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). IICA would like to present some of the actions and activities that it considers relevant to the work of this Committee.

1  SUPPORT FOR MULTILATERAL FORa ASSOCIATED WITH SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES

1.1  Codex Initiative for the Americas

1.1.  In collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Codex Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC), the African Union's Inter‑African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), and the Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization (AIDSMO), IICA hosted the following Interregional Virtual Colloquium for countries of the Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA), the Codex Committee for the Near East (CCNE), the CCLAC, and the United States:

-_              October 2024 – 48^th Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL44), 118 participants;

-_              November 2024 – 47^th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC47), 95 participants;

-_              22 January 2025 – 23^rd Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV23): 95 participants.

1.2.  These events/activities provided an opportunity for delegates from these three regions and the United States to analyse issues of common interest and develop regional participation strategies prior to those Codex Committee meetings.

1.3.  In the framework of the Codex Initiative for the Americas and the partnership with the US Codex Office, IICA supported the attendance of country delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean to the following committee meetings:

-_              October 2024 – 48^th Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL44), six country delegates;

-_              October 2024 – 27^th Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF27), five country delegates;

-_              November 2024 – 87^th Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC87), one country delegate;

-_              November 2024 – 47^th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC47), 14 country delegates.

1.2  Strategy Session on the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Guidelines

1.4.  Aiming at improving coordination and promoting the development of harmonized comments on the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code chapters, IICA, in partnership with the USDA, hosted in December 2024 another virtual edition of the Strategy Sessions on WOAH Guidelines. Matters related to biosecurity, aquatic diseases, equine encephalitis, brucellosis and definition of poultry were discussed. The session was attended by 47 participants from 21 countries.

2  OTHER ACTIVITIES

2.1  Cooperative Agreement IICA-FDA: Activities between July and December 2024

2.1.1  Virtual dissemination activities of the "Growing Safe Produce" Programme

2.1.  IICA has been implementing both virtual and in-person activities to disseminate the "Growing Safe Produce" Programme, which serves as a training tool to improve the understanding of the regulatory requirements of FSMA's Produce Safety Rule (PSR). From November to December 2024, we organized more than nine activities that reached over 670 growers and food industry representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Notably, six of these were conducted as in-person sessions. Since launching our dissemination efforts, the number of registrations on the Growing Safe Produce (GSP) platform has increased steadily due to promotional activities in both face-to-face and virtual formats. Currently, the platform has approximately 4,000 subscribers.

2.2  STDF Pilot Project (STDF/PG/682) – Voluntary Third-Party Assurance (vTPA)

2.2.1  SPS Committee Thematic Session on Codex Guidelines for Voluntary Third-Party Assurance Programmes

2.2.  The SPS Committee Thematic Session on Codex Guidelines for Voluntary Third-Party Assurance (vTPA) Programmes, held in November 2024, covered various aspects of vTPA implementation. As part of the project's participation, experiences and lessons learned from the STDF pilot projects in the Central American region were shared, highlighting practical applications and challenges. Additionally, countries supported by the project contributed to discussions on capacity-building initiatives, emphasizing efforts to support the adoption and implementation of vTPA programs at the national and regional levels by IICA.

2.2.2  Final Workshops – Honduras and Belize

2.3.  The closing sessions of the project "Piloting the Use of Third-Party Assurance (vTPA) Programs in Central America (Honduras and Belize)" took place on December 2024. The events organized by BAHA and SENASA Honduras highlighted key achievements, lessons learned, and capacity-building efforts throughout the projects. Roadmaps for integrating vTPA into national food control systems were presented, along with interactive documents to support implementation. Discussions focused on next steps and future opportunities, followed by reflections on the projects' impact. Interviews were conducted to gather insights from participants. The sessions provided a platform to consolidate knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and pave the way for the broader adoption of vTPA programs in the region.

2.2.3  "IICA-ALADI Regional Workshop on Regulatory Convergence as a Tool for Facilitating Intra-regional Trade: Progress and Challenges in the Implementation of Equivalence Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures"

2.4.  Held at IICA's headquarters in November 2024, more than 20 representatives from official sanitary, phytosanitary, and food safety services participated in discussions aimed at strengthening countries' capacity to understand and implement equivalence agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, thus facilitating global and regional trade in agri-food products.

2.5.  The main goal of the workshop organized by IICA and the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) was to promote a solid support structure that enables the facilitation of intra‑regional trade, fostering a more competitive environment for the region's agricultural products. Training was provided on the importance of regulatory convergence, the WTO's international regulations on this matter, and the guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for the formulation of Equivalence Agreements. Additionally, it worked to complement the information gathered in a survey conducted in June 2024 to assess the status, interest, and limitations regarding the formulation of equivalence agreements in the agri-food sector.

2.2.4  IV Meeting of National Trade Facilitation Committees for the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement

2.6.  Held in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on November 2024, the event had the financial support of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF), the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), and IICA. The main objectives of the meeting were:

-_        Strengthen intergovernmental cooperation for the implementation of trade facilitation measures;

-_        Promote digitalization, with emphasis on advances in electronic sanitary and phytosanitary documents (ePhyto and eVet), which are key to streamlining trade processes;

-_        Promote interoperability, addressing the challenges and benefits associated with the digitalization of systems and processes.

2.7.  The event promoted the exchange of experiences and good practices between member countries. Over the two days, the challenges and advances in the digitalization of commercial procedures and documents have been analysed in depth, highlighting the case of sanitary and phytosanitary documents (ePhyto and eVet). In addition, the importance of interoperability and collaboration between governments, institutions and the private sector to ensure the success of these initiatives has been underlined, as well as the need for efficient management of resources.

2.8.  IICA presented its experience with the implementation of the Project STDF/PG/856 "Enhancing multilateral e-veterinary certification in Latin America and the Caribbean".

2.9.  The initiative generated a space for collaboration between member countries, who will continue to promote actions related to the digitalization of documents. It also underlined its commitment to evaluate the status of implementation of electronic phytosanitary certification in each country, encouraging the exchange of experiences on this subject.

For further information, please contact José H. Urdaz (jose.urdaz@iica.int).

Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Agricultural Health and Food Safety

http://www.iica.int

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